


The Pallid Angel

by ouzell



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Death, Hospital, Humanstuck, Kanaya Maryam/Karkat Vantas Moirallegiance, Murder, The Vantases being brothers, Threats, cursing, implied vampirism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 13:37:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5458382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ouzell/pseuds/ouzell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karkat is helpless when a mysterious stranger intrudes on his otherwise ordinary life.<br/>She's taken his house, and now she's going to go to school with him.<br/>Well, at least things couldn't get any worse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Pallid Angel

  “Get out of my fucking face before I smash it in, Strider.”  
  “Fine, fine! I’ll leave you alone- but it’s your loss. It’s not everyday you get invited to hang out with the coolest kid in school.”  
  Dave faced Karkat as he walked away, that stupid smirk on his face. Coolest kid in the school- yeah right. As Karkat watched, Dave turned around to meet up with John and Rose down the sidewalk. It took every ounce of restraint in him to keep from calling some shitlord insult after him. School had just gotten out, and for what must have been the tenth time that month he had pestered Karkat to join them. Where? “Wherever we end up,” according to Dave. Even if he had wanted to join him, he couldn’t. He had someone at home waiting for him, and it wasn’t family or a partner. As a matter of fact, over time he felt more like he had a pet than a person waiting for him at home.  
  As the rhythmic sound of his sneakers hitting the pavement sounded, Karkat thought about where he would go for dinner that night. Downtown? No, too dangerous. Maybe the hospital- their food was always a favorite. Ah, but it was too risky. Then an idea popped into his mind. He nodded to himself and mulled it over, slowing to a stop in front of his house. He hated this place. Well, the little guy hated everywhere, but this place was the worst. His oldest brother had moved out a while ago, but his other brother Kankri came back every so often.  
  They were both terrible.  
  The latter being in college, he only returned to check on him due to duty and knowing he’d get in trouble if he didn’t. Otherwise, there was the occasional drop-by to pick up some books or something, but in the long run he was “too busy” to visit. And Karkat liked it that way. He had no one to bother him and whenever he needed food he’d just use the money their older brother gave him to buy food. Undisturbed, uninterrupted….  
  If only. It had been like that for only a couple of weeks before he had run into some trouble. It was unnoticeable at first- a window left ajar, his bed made, a few things mysteriously put back into place- nothing he cared about. That is, until he was forced to.

 

* * *

 

  One night he was sitting splayed out on the couch with some chips and watching another horrible well made Adam Sandler romantic comedy, when a sudden knock on the door startled him. Of course he dropped his chips, and of course he cursed loudly when they fell to the floor. Grumpily, he stood and stomped over to the front door, throwing it open.  
  “Look I’m not going to buy any of your dogshit, no matter how nook ticklingly fantastic or cheap it is.”  
  Karkat expected there to be some kind of solicitor- but instead was met with the face of a young woman. Not even a young woman- she couldn’t have been a few years older than he was. She was older, and looked like she was freezing in the night. Maybe the cold was what caused her to looks so pale, too.  
  “I’m terribly sorry, but my ex boyfriend just kicked me out and I don’t have anywhere to go. Do you think I might intrude on your hospitality for the night?”  
  Her voice was like velvet- no, like melted chocolate, the kind that you dip strawberries and cheese into. In the back of his mind, the inclination to do something to make her speak again just so he could hear her voice was a little bit unsettling. Not to mention the fact that it was something he would never have done ordinarily. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help feeling sympathetic with her. What kind of guy would kick his girlfriend out with just the clothes on her back and no where to go? Sudden feelings of rage and irritation flared at the thought. Not one to censor his anger, he found himself stepping aside.  
  “Anybody who had to deal with a shitty asshat like that is welcome to anything of mine.”  
  She gave him a grateful look, but didn’t go in right away. At his questioning look, she spoke again;  
  “Am I allowed to come in?”  
  “Yeah, you can come in. (Not like I already said that....)”  
  With a half grateful and half apologetic look, she stepped inside the house. As soon as he closed the door, she turned around, her expression stony. His overwhelming empathy with this girl came crashing down, as a facade tends to do. A look of confusion and anger washed over his face.  
  “Karkat, I’m taking your house and you can’t stop me, no matter how hard you may try.”  
  “No matter how shitty this house is, I’m not letting you take it. You seriously think that you can just waltz in here with some fancy ass words and I’ll lay down at your feet? ‘Oh gee, my boyfriend kicked me out!’ Tough fucking luck, lady- find some other jelly-spined chumpfucker-”  
  “Oh enough already! Honestly, your incessant train of stupidity is tiring.”  
  “Who the fuck are you, and why are you trying to steal my house?”  
  She gave a roll of her eyes and walked further into the house, as if she knew exactly where she was going. At the sight of the spilt chips she gave an irritated huff.  
  “I’m doing you a favor- even when someone else opens the door to cleanliness for you, you dump a bowl of chips on the floor.”  
  For a moment she looked to him with raised eyebrows, but he only rewarded her with crossed arms and a very cranky expression indeed. He hadn’t made any moves because he had no weapon and was pretty scrawny, but as soon as he could get to the kitchen….  
  “Lock the door.”  
  He looked at her like she was crazy, but she repeated herself firmly.  
  “Lock. The door.”  
  He did so. Her tone made him feel like if he didn’t do as she said, he would end up regretting it. As soon as he did lock it, she visibly relaxed. Suddenly she looked very tired, and the bags under her eyes were more visible. It was shocking how different she looked.  
  “I’m Kanaya. I’ve been watching your house for the past week, and you obviously don’t have any idea how to take care of yourself- no, let me finish- and are blatantly lonely.”  
  He had tried to interrupt indignantly, but she wouldn’t let him.  
  “Why are you stealing my house again?”  
  “I’m not stealing it. I’m simply… forcing you to accept me as a roommate until I find some place better. You live close to the hospital, the morgue, and no one cares to come to your house because you have no friends and for some reason seem to make an effort to keep it that way. If you tell anyone, try to leave, or attack me in any way, I’ll have to make certain regrettable actions that are not in your favor. Need I say more?”  
  Karkat was a bit in shock because she had both taken his house and ‘roasted’ him, as Dave would say, in one blow.  
  “I’m not going to just let you do this, you know.”  
  “I’d like to see you try and stop me. Oh I’m positively starving! Do you have any enemies?”  
She spoke as if Karkat were some old friend of hers and she had visited simply for conversation. Bristling, he opened his mouth to further complain.

 

* * *

 

  Looking back on the first time they had met always embarrassed Karkat a bit, because now he knew more about that night than he had then. Now he knew that at any moment he could have easily overpowered Kanaya. He also knew that if he had done what his brother had told him and kept all the doors and windows locked like he was supposed to, she wouldn’t have been able to sneak in and scope the place out as easily, and the fact that he had been wrong infuriated him. Being wrong was not something he was fond of, because that meant he would eventually have to admit that someone else was right.  
  He unlocked the front door and opened it, expecting to hear that same voice as he did so. This time it wasn’t so velvety and seductive- Kanaya only used that voice when she was trying to persuade someone.  
  “Kanaya?”  
  “In the kitchen!”  
He dropped his backpack onto the floor in the living room and made his way to the kitchen. There was Kanaya, just closing the oven and putting away her oven mitts.  
  “Since I’m having a fancy dinner tonight, I thought I’d make you one too. Shepherd’s Pie.”  
She wore an expectant smile. Karkat looked around the kitchen at the potato peels in the sink and the leftover chopped vegetables.  
  “...You didn’t have to do that. Besides, you made a mess.”  
Used to this kind of thing, she rolled her eyes with a shake of her head and spoke again;  
  “It’ll be done by the time we get back. That way you won’t end up eating chips like you usually do.”  
Okay, so maybe he was guilty of that, but it didn’t mean he needed taking care of. (In all reality, Karkat just didn’t know how to accept gifts or acts of kindness. It was one of his key flaws and he knew it, which only made him more irritated.)  
  “Get ready- we’re leaving soon.”  
  He went to go plop down on the couch as she made her way upstairs. See, at the very least once a month, Karkat and Kanaya went out for dinner together. Of course Karkat wasn’t the one eating anything on their outings, but nonetheless he was necessary. He knew all the people, they avoided him, and in turn avoided Kanaya. The hospital was her favorite place to go- fresh food and all- but sometimes they had to just make do with the morgue. Of course ‘stale’ meals as Kanaya sometimes called them didn’t do much for her, but they kept her going.  
  This was to be a visit to the hospital, so Kanaya came downstairs in a sundress that made her look a bit more friendly than her preferred attire. She had applied some well-placed makeup that made her look less pale than usual, and overall she seemed like she could fit in. Maybe as one of those girls that lets you chase her in the grassy fields, and visits the old folk’s home out of the kindness of her heart. Karkat wondered if Kanaya had been that girl once. She didn’t like to talk about her past too much.  
  “Ready to go- how about you?”  
  “What do you think?”  
  They went out to the car, and Kanaya hopped into the driver’s seat. Karkat was still a high schooler and had neglected to get his driving permit, so she drove every time. They started on their way to the hospital. How many times had they gotten into the car like this, under these pretenses? Every time had been basically the same, ever since the beginning.

 

* * *

 

  “Don’t do anything unless I instruct you as such, alright?”  
 “I’m not a fucking toddler.”  
  “Could’ve fooled me.”  
  Kanaya only gave him a coy smile before walking past the front door of the hospital. Not just past the door, but past the front desk. She almost got away with it, until Karkat followed and the receptionist called them back.  
  “Hmmm… no, I don’t see any Maryam here.”  
  The woman frowned at her list and looked up with a slightly suspicious eye. Karkat, with his hoody and the bags under his eyes probably looked a little shady. She looked on the verge of filing them in the ‘Shady’ folder in her mind’s filing system before Kanaya spoke in that special voice of hers.  
  “You know, my friend is horrible with these kinds of things, I’m sure they just didn’t think to put our names down.” She almost stopped there before some very quick thinking;   “Alzheimer's is a terrible disease.”  
With that she gave a remorseful- well, it was almost a pout- and the receptionist visibly softened.  
  “I understand completely. You two dears can come visit anytime.”  
And with that, they were standing in the elevator, on their way up. There was a short moment of silence before Karkat spoke.  
  “What is that- that thing you do? Is it some kind of mind fuckery trick or super power? Do you all have the ability to make people one hundred percent more stupid than they usually are?”  
  “I just know how to talk to people. Maybe if you weren’t so vulgar and forthwith in your judgement of others, you’d be able to do the same.”  
  That shut him up. It was funny- Kanaya was the first person that knew how to really shut him up when she wanted to- and she didn’t even have to use her silver tongue to do it. It enraged him.  
  There was a ding and the doors opened to a very quiet floor. With a brush of one finger to her lips to signify the importance of silence, the girl stepped forward and past the desk with a smile. As soon as they were out of sight, she seemed to be listening to what was going on inside the rooms. They passed a few before an abrupt halt. Carefully, Kanaya opened the door and stepped in, beckoning to Karkat before closing it behind them. Inside was an elderly woman on a hospital bed, various tubes connected to her. She was awake, but showed no surprise at these strange intruders. Karkat glanced to Kanaya, who was smiling gently.  
  “Hello. I’m afraid I’m here to ask an unrepayable favor of you.”  
With a sad eye, she advanced and sat on the side of the bed. Her tone was gentle, but it was in no way deceiving. The voice she had used on Karkat and the receptionist was nowhere to be heard.  
  “I won’t lie to you- I am here to kill you. But I am also here to let you die peacefully, and in turn help another living creature keep on living. Do you accept?”  
  The woman’s lips moved soundlessly, so Kanaya leaned in as if being told a secret. They were the only two that would ever know what that woman said, for just afterward, Kanaya turned to Karkat calmy;  
“Step outside please- I’ll be right out.”

  Not five minutes later, she opened the door and exited. They left the hospital, Kanaya looking rejuvenated and less tired, Karkat looking a little shaken. Weeks later there was no post in the paper about an old woman dying mysteriously, and he never heard about it at school.

 

* * *

 

  On their way home, Karkat felt the same questions he always did on their way back clawing at the back of his mind, and they were all about Kanaya. Did she have a last name? Did she have any family? What exactly did she live off of? Why hadn’t she killed him? That last one he knew the answer to- he had asked before. Exactly what he had said was, “Why don’t you kill me?” (He may have tacked on some other useless stuff with a few curse words mixed in.) You know what her answer was? “Because you’re my friend.” Then she had given him the warmest, nicest smile he could ever remember getting. Many times she had reassured him that there was nothing romantic involved, and he sensed that they were both grateful for that. What a romantic relationship between them would be like, he didn’t want to know. Disastrous, probably.  
  So many questions still remained. His thoughts continued to simmer in his crockpot of a mind even as the car stopped in front of the house. The only thing that broke his train of thought was the abrupt shutting of the door as she got out. In turn he did the same and followed her inside- and, for the millionth time, she turned around to him and asked a single question.  
  “Karkat- I can’t at least pretend to be an exchange student of some kind?”  
  When she had first sat him down and told him how she didn’t want this to be like a hostage situation, she had asked what his rules were. At first his only rule was no squatters. She had told him that that was a ridiculous rule. He had gone on a rant. After an ordeal she had finally gotten some real rules out of them and they had been these; No answering the phone, door, or going outside. No eating his food. No meeting his family when they visited. He didn’t want anyone to see he was living with someone, let alone a girl, because then he would have to make up a whole story about where she came from and why she was there, introduce her to everyone- oh it would be a nightmare. No, he’d much rather have it be a hostage situation, actually. However, over time she grew antsy. Only going out every so often for food was not enough, and Kanaya was a social person when she could be. Long story short, she wanted to just be Karkat’s roommate that both went to his school and occasionally killed old people for sustenance at his local hospital.  
  He rolled his eyes like he always did, but considered it, just for a moment. If it meant that he wouldn’t be pestered like this anymore and that she would have someone else to talk to, it could be a good thing. How many times a day did she try to start a conversation with him and only get a cranky yell in response? Too many times. Unfortunately, she saw the uncertainty in his expression, and a light sparked in her eyes.  
  “It could be fun. We could make it fun. I can drive you to school?”  
  She already tried to help him with his homework and made his lunches, so it wasn’t like she could really offer that. The scent of fresh baked Shepherd's Pie sealed the deal. He sighed and shrugged;  
  “Fine- but you better not drag me into shit like clubs. It’s like the peanut gallery of all the mind numbing things you can do at school.”

 


End file.
